It's been another record year for Australian births, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

A total of 297,900 births were registered in Australia in 2010, the highest number of births ever registered in a calendar year. Of these, 16,100 births were registered where at least one parent was an Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person.

Despite this record number of births, Australia's total fertility rate dropped slightly to 1.89 babies per woman, down from a recent high of 1.96 in 2008.

The Northern Territory had the highest fertility rate, at 2.11 babies per woman, while Victoria had the lowest at 1.75.

The Northern Territory and Tasmania had the youngest mothers, where fertility rates were highest for women aged 25–29 years, compared with the rest of Australia where rates were highest for women aged 30–34 years.

The average age of a mother in 2010 was 30.7 years; first-time mums averaged 28.9 years, and the average dad, 33.1. All these ages have increased slightly from 2009.

More details can be found inBirths, Australia, 2010(cat. no. 3301.0). State, territory and sub-state information is also available for download from the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au).

Media notes:

Population fertility rates measure a community's actual reproductive outcomes, a concept of adding to the population through live births. Still births are not added to the population and therefore are not counted in this context, however, are reported in Perinatal Deaths, Australia (cat. no. 3304.0).

The total fertility rate represents the average number of babies that a woman could expect to bear during her reproductive lifetime if current fertility rates continue.

Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) as the source.